Slayers Pentasama
by Xelan
Summary: A new evil seeks to reform a weapon as old as time. With Xelloss no longer a threat, only Lina can stop it.
1. Bloody Reunions

Slayers Pentasama  
  
A stab at Slayers fanfic writing by Xelan   
(xelan@linainverse.com) (http://www.xelan.cjb.net)  
  
(Certain characters copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi, as all fans  
well know. Original characters belong to me. No copyright infringement  
intended. Remember: suing people is a bad thing.) ^_^  
  
(pardon the grammar mistakes)  
  
Chapter 1 Bloody Reunions  
  
----------  
  
Lina sat in the too soft, much too comfortable chair located in front  
of the roaring fire of the Ghenkin Inn. A mug of coffee was cooling  
on the floor, too bitter to drink, and too expensive to let go to  
waste. She picked it up and delicately blew the steam away from the  
mouth of the mug. As she took a small sip, she gently breathed a sad  
sigh.  
  
She lifted her head and gave the greetings room of the inn an  
expansive glance, settling her eyes upon a tarnished sword that hung  
over the mantle of the fireplace. Its ancient blade glistened in the  
bright warm light of the orange and red flames. The sword looked like  
Gourry's new sword, only much, much older and in much worse condition.  
  
When she realized whom she was thinking about, she quickly  
dropped her gaze and closed her eyes. It wasn't fair, not fair at all.  
It was almost her birthday; she would be 19. She had hoped to spend  
her birthday with all of her friends. But Amelia was called to the  
kingdom of Zenzecky on ambassador work, and Zelgadiss was off  
somewhere on another continent looking for a cure. Her sister was too  
scary to even approach, and even Gourry was called home to Testabourne  
because his grandmother was ill.  
  
It was strange -- here she was, Lina Inverse, the bandit  
killer, the reluctant saviour of the world, the enemy of all who live,  
was sitting in a two-bit inn moping about being lonely on her  
birthday. She was Lina, she was strong. She didn't need anyone. Nope,  
not anyone. But if she didn't need anyone, then why did it hurt so  
much to be alone?  
  
Her eyes began to water slightly as she sat there soaking in  
her own pool of despair and self-pity, when someone behind her cleared  
his throat noisily. Lina glanced behind her from the corner of her  
eyes and spotted purple hair. Xelloss! It had to be him, Lina knew of  
no one else who had purple hair, at least no one close.  
  
She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand  
and composed herself. She turned around and gasped at what she saw.  
Xelloss was slumped against the wall, head drooping, arm hanging  
limply from his side. His robes were torn and stained with black  
blood, and his normally shiny purple hair was matted and covered with  
soot and blood. His other arm was clutching his staff like a thirsty  
man covets water.  
  
He visibly struggled to lift his head and said one word,  
"Tasukete...," then collapsed in a heap. Lina was overwhelmed with  
powerful emotions. She felt concern for this mazoku before her, he had  
aided her before. She felt fear that there was a person out there  
that had the power to do this to someone as powerful as Xelloss. She  
felt rage that someone had hurt one of her friends. She felt  
confused...  
  
Lina Inverse did not get to be the woman of myth, legend, and  
the occasional wanted poster she is today by standing idly by while  
things happen. She got there by doing what needed to be done, the mark  
of a true hero. Which is why while her brain was still absorbing all  
the new information, her body had sprung into action and levitated  
Xelloss' battered body up the stairs and into her room. She cut off  
his tunic and tried to assess the damage.  
  
It was blood, actual human blood. Lina had assumed all the  
blood on Xelloss was someone else's, but it was plain to see that the  
blood was none other then Xelloss' very own. "Masaka," she breathed.  
Xelloss was a mazoku, he shouldn't have any blood. Mazoku blood  
looked different. Only human blood looked like this. She shook her  
head to clear it. If she didn't do something soon, Xelloss would  
bleed to death. Bandages wouldn't be enough, and the white magic of a  
healing spell was anathema to a mazoku. For once in her life, Lina  
didn't know what to do.  
  
"Lina...," gasped the ailing trickster priest. "Need help...  
have to stop her...can't let.. AGGHH.. can't let her form the  
penta...,"and then he coughed up blood and gritted his teeth as the  
pain intensified.  
  
Lina grabbed his shoulders and nearly screamed at him to get  
his attention.  
  
"AGHHHH!!!!! My Shoulder!" he shouted.  
  
"Xel... you're hurt very badly, I need to try and heal you  
with white magic, is it safe to try?"  
  
"H-Hai.." he said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Hang on Xel, white magic was never my strong suit." And with  
that, Lina Inverse, the feared and powerful black sorceress, charged a  
ball of white power and slammed it into Xellos Metallium's dying body.  
The damage was so extensive that the amount of white magic Lina had  
available was not enough. She needed more power, more life energy to  
strengthen the dying life force of Xelloss.  
  
Then, she realized where she would have to get that energy.  
She gritted her teeth and began to draw energy from her own life  
force. Not enough to kill her, but more then enough to render her  
unconscious, and barely enough save Xel's life. She had to hurry --  
Xel was fading fast and the energy in her hand was becoming hard to  
control as her eyes got heavier and heavier. As the last bit of energy  
she could spare flowed into her hands, she felt herself slipping from  
consciousness. . .  
  
No! she would not give up, she had to save Xel. He was her  
friend and friends don't give up on friends. Using every iota of her  
famous Inverse stubbornness, she placed her glowing hands on Xelloss'  
body and growled with the last of her strength. "ULTRA RECovery..."  
  
While sleep overcame Lina, Xelloss' injuries started to mend  
themselves, jagged torn bits of tissue began knitting together, gaping  
holes in his body started pulling closed and finally his breathing  
started to even out. He had weathered the storm with Lina's help. As  
he began the slow process of healing and started to drift off to  
sleep, two thoughts occurred to him. One: I owe my life to Lina. Two:  
I need a new suit...  
  
---------  
  
Tsuzuku (to be continued)  
  
  
  
Translations:  
  
Tasukete = Help!   
Masaka = Impossible! To express disbelief.   
Mazoku = The Evil Race, basically the demons of the world; can assume   
human form at will.  
  
*Writer's Notes:  
I apologize to all die-hard Slayers fans that know that Recovery  
does not drain a caster's own life-force. To remedy this small problem,  
I've used artistic license and combined standard Recovery with  
Resurrection, to create Ultra Recovery. 


	2. Bedside Manner

Slayers Pentasama  
  
A stab at Slayers fanfic writing by Xelan   
(xelan@tokyo.com) - email c&c to me.   
  
Xelan's Archive:   
(http://xelan.virtualave.net) - Popup free web page.  
(http://www.xelan.cjb.net) - Permanent web page with Pop-ups.  
  
(Certain characters copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi, as all fans  
well know. Original characters belong to me. No copyright infringement  
intended. Remember: suing people is a bad thing.) ^_^  
  
(pardon the grammar mistakes)  
  
  
Chapter 2: Bedside Manner  
  
----------  
  
Xelloss sat up. His first thought as his mind roused itself  
from slumber was that sitting up was a bad, extremely stupid and  
horrible idea. His back felt like he had gone ten rounds against a  
mazoku lord and lost. As a matter of fact, he'd done that once and it  
had never hurt like this, before. Actually, he now began to realize  
that it wasn't just his back that hurt. His entire being was in agony.  
A new sensation for him and one that Xel was not quite up to dealing  
with at the moment. With a slight whimper, he collapsed back down onto  
the feather bed.  
  
"Okay, I am in a great deal of pain, and I can barely move.  
Where am I and what do I do now?" mused Xelloss through a haze of  
pain.  
  
A snore to his right brought Xelloss out of his introspective  
moment and a shock of red, poofy hair caused his eyes to open fully in  
surprise.  
  
"Lina..." the injured priest half gasped under his breath. He  
searched his hazy memory to try and piece together what had happened.  
He finally remembered. He had been hurt, probably dying, but Lina gave  
of herself to save him. He knew that he was undeserving of her help,  
but if his current condition was as serious as he suspected, then he  
could not afford to be without it for the time being.  
  
"Feeling better, Xelloss?" asked the red-haired girl beside him. He  
hadn't even noticed that she had woken up.  
  
"Better than I was, Lina, and thank you. I'm not entirely sure  
what happened to me, but I do remember that I wasn't in good shape,"  
He winced as his shoulder spasmed briefly, "and I'm still not, but I'm  
getting there."  
  
"That's for sure. You had me worried, Xel. I turned around and  
I saw you leaning against a wall, blood dripping off of you and your  
skin was so pale I thought maybe you were some vengeful spirit."  
  
Xelloss just turned to face her and adopted his best  
improvised, quizzical expression.  
  
"Oh yeah, you're a Mazoku. You _are_ a vengeful spirit. Oops,  
sorry about that..." Lina apologized.  
  
Xelloss couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that comment. It  
wasn't often that someone forgot that he was a mazoku, especially  
someone who already knew. It helped that he was also one of the most  
powerful beings on the planet, but then again, Lina was no slouch in  
terms of power, either.  
  
Before he could continue on that tangent any further, Lina  
abruptly interrupted his train of thought.  
  
"So, why do you have blood?" asked Lina in a very serious  
voice. "Mazoku don't have blood like humans or elves or dragons do.  
I've seen you almost cut in half and then you're fully healed a few  
minutes later" what gives?  
  
Xelloss winced as he readjusted himself so he could sit up  
without his muscles screaming at him. He had been trying to avoid that  
particular avenue of questions. Why was he feeling pain? Why hadn't he  
regenerated immediately? Why had Lina been able to use White Magic on  
him successfully, and why couldn't he sense the presence of his astral  
self as he usually could? He had a feeling that any answer he could  
give to any one of his own mental questions would not be to his  
liking.  
  
"I am not entirely sure as to why, but right now, I don't  
think _am_ a mazoku. You are entirely correct, I shouldn't have blood  
and I should have been able to shrug off a physical injury like this  
with no problem. However, I currently am in a great deal of pain and I  
can't seem to use any of my mazoku abilities."  
  
Despite the eerie calm of Xelloss' voice, Lina had known Xelloss  
long enough to know that he was actually worried. His tone may have sounded  
calm, but for Xelloss, this was the same as a normal person panicking.  
Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but a reasonable comparison.  
  
"Oh! That's right, I didn't finish healing all of your  
injuries before I... um ... _fell_ asleep. We'll just keep that incident  
our little a secret, shall we? I can finish healing you if that's  
the case."  
  
"Ah, don't worry. It will be our little secret, and you know  
how well I keep secrets. Now, I hate to rush you, but would you please  
cast your healing spell before I black out. I've wasted entirely too  
much time being unconscious."  
  
"Right! Hold still, this might sting a little."  
  
At that, Lina raised her right hand back and a glowing orb of  
white energy began to form. The brilliant white light began to shimmer  
and roll as Lina mentally recited the spell to draw in the necessary  
power to supercharge Xelloss' natural healing abilities. It was a  
common spell that relied primarily on boosting the bodies own  
recuperative abilities. Though there were other more powerful spells  
that would have done a more thorough job, Recovery was the extent of  
Lina's white mage training.  
  
"RECOVERY!"  
  
And having said that, the orb of white power was shoved  
gracefully into Xelloss' chest. It is useful to note that the feeling  
of being healed by recovery is not unlike the tingly feeling that  
occurs when feeling returns to a sleepy foot after it has fallen  
asleep. Unfortunately for Xelloss, he had never experienced either  
sensation before today and the body-wide shock flattened him against  
the bed, even as the last traces of his injuries faded from sight.  
  
"I think I preferred being injured..." moaned Xelloss as his  
eyes continued to spin around the room.  
  
"Oh don't be a baby. It was just a little recovery spell.  
White magic is the safest type of magic on the planet"  
  
"Easy for you to say. I never had need of it before, but I  
will admit, I feel better now that I'm whole again. And, speaking of  
"holes" my clothes are ruined. Do you know any good tailor shops in  
the area?"  
  
Lina looked at the outwardly, tattered, but now whole priest and  
was a little surprised that he could go from whining about his  
injuries to worrying about his appearance. She shrugged. 'Oh well',  
she though. I guess even priests worry about their appearance.  
  
"We should be able to find something suitable for you, but  
first I want to know what exactly happened to you.  
  
Xelloss tilted his head slightly and his matted and blood  
encrusted bangs swayed gently as he seemed to take in what Lina had  
just said. Though his eyes were still closed, Lina thought she could  
almost hear the gears grinding away in Xelloss' sneaky head.  
  
"I am not really sure what exactly happened..." admitted the  
rather somber priest.  
  
"Let me get this straight. The one guy who always seems to  
know what is going on, who is always keeping secrets, manipulating his  
friends, and toying with peoples' lives, doesn't know how he became a  
bloody mess and ended up in the very same inn as me? Am I  
understanding you right, Xelloss?  
  
When Xelloss didn't reply immediately, Lina's posture slumped.  
She honestly cared for Xelloss as a friend, but it was more than that.  
He wasn't just any friend. Lina knew she loved Gourry, but there was  
something about Xel. He was close to her heart, yet distant. A total  
stranger and yet sometimes, when she was alone and the dark thoughts  
came, her mind always drifted to thoughts of Xelloss. At times he felt  
like family and it hurt a lot whenever he wasn't honest with her.  
  
"I can't really say, Lina."  
  
He was trying to do it again! Xelloss was actually trying to  
keep from answering her question. Lina felt a slow burn begin. It rose  
from the depths of her being and attempted to expand throughout her  
mind. But, no. Lina wouldn't led some damn Mazoku priest manipulate  
her emotions. No more toying with petty secrets and hiding behind  
masks and smiles. She had nearly collapsed in horror at seeing him so  
near death and the jerk had the gall to try his "that is a secret"  
routine on her? On her - of all people. The one who had SAVED HIS  
GODDAMN LIFE!  
  
In a cold but calm voice Lina said, "Can't or won't Xelloss?  
Can't or won't..." and with that, Lina slowly slid off of the bed and  
headed for the door.  
  
"Lina, you have to listen..."  
  
"NO! Xel, you listen to me! I thought that despite the demon  
lords, the mayhem, destruction, life or death battles, betrayal and  
back stabbing, that we were at least good enough friends that you could  
be honest with _ME_. But I guess I was mistaken. I healed you and I  
paid for the room in advance, so feel free to stay, but if you don't  
consider me worthy of knowing what's really going on, then I don't  
consider it necessary to stay here and be toyed with. Good bye Mister  
Trickster Priest!"  
  
Lina turned and resumed her walk toward the door. The door  
slammed shut and the sound it made echoed through the room. On the  
bed, Xelloss allowed himself to fall back against the feather pillow  
and at that moment the tired, old seems of that pillow saw fit to  
burst from the many years of abuse. The flurry of feathers blanketed  
the room and in Xelloss' thoughts, three things stood out quite  
prominently. One, I'm an idiot; two, I must consider a suitable way of  
"repaying" the owner of this inn for his "spectacular" accommodations;  
and three, I still need a new suit.  
  
----------  
  
Tsuzuku (to be continued)  
  
(If you want to read more, e-mail me and encourage)  
  
*Note: this has not been pre-read yet by anyone other than me, so  
expect more errors than usual. They shall be rectified as soon as  
possible. 


End file.
